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Old 2006-02-16, 01:09   Link #73
NoSanninWa
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: New York, USA
As has been mentioned endlessly, the hilt of Ichigo's bankai is in the shape of a manji or sauvastika which is the counterpart of the swastika. The difference is in the direction of the arms which rotate counter-clockwise on Ichigo's swordhilt instead of clockwise as the swastika does. In Buddhist religious symbolism, the sauvastika is a night symbol that stands for the powers of the unknown. Corresponding to that, the swastika is a sun symbol.

These symbols exist in many different cultures and are many centuries, even millenia old. They predate nazism so much that it is an insult to these ancient and revered symbols that they have come to be associated with that cause.

The main reason that the manji is used as the hilt of Ichigo's sword is that it is also the kanji for 'ban' as in 'bankai.' In this context, it means final.

PS. I can't believe I bothered to type out one of these essays... again. Maybe I ought to create a thread for it.
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